Serene and Surprise
by TheRealSokka
Summary: Some Katara&Aang fluff and a bit of Sokka craziness mixed in for good measure. Set during and after the final scene of the show. I don't know, I just had fun writing it. And no; I have not read the comics yet. Shame on me.


**This is an older one-shot of mine (as in, ancient), and for some reason I looked over it again and, well. Tweaked it a bit and added some parts so that it looks a little better. Enjoy.**

 **PS: I've not written Avatar in a long time. I've missed it.**

* * *

 **Serene**

* * *

"Well, _I_ think you all look perfect!" Toph exclaimed, and everybody (even Sokka) broke into a humorous laughter.

Aang smiled at the sight of all his friends ridiculing the 'masterful' painting Sokka had created. He patted Appa's head, who roared happily, and walked out onto the balcony. In front of him, the streets and rooftops of Ba Sing Se stretched as far as the eye could see. Below, the airbender saw children playing in the streets, around the pillars of Fire Nation tanks that now decorated the city. A grin passed across his face when he remembered Bumi's vivid recollections of the short battle for the city; his friend had insisted that he had always wanted to juggle with 'those cute toys', as he called the machines.

He would have loved to have been here to see it. With Bumi's enthusiastic and Iroh's pragmatic accounts taken together, it sounded like quite the battle.

Aang's absent gaze swept across the rest of the city. Everything looked astonishingly normal; it spoke volumes of the prowess of the White Lotus that the worst signs of the battle were the tanks piled up in the streets. The city was more or less alright; safe. Just like the people in the building behind him, who he loved more than anything else. And yeah; he was alright, too. It really had all ended rather well, hadn't it?

He leaned on the railing and watched the sunset, lost in his thoughts. It felt surreal to not have to worry for once in this particular city, but it was definitely a welcome change.

 _A few months. Just a few months, and everything is different now. No war. No Dai Li watching us. And no madman trying to destroy the world._ His thoughts went back to his friends. _And the whole group, just sitting around and drinking tea. Wow._ He smiled a content smile and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment.

He heard quiet footsteps behind him. Aang could tell who it was; knew the footsteps almost better than his own, but he didn't turn around. Then they stopped next to him, and he opened his eyes and looked at her.

Brilliant blue eyes were looking back at him. As always, the airbender immediately got lost in them. But where those deep blue pools were usually stormy and worried, now Aang only saw the same peace that he felt reflected in them. Katara smiled.

Neither of them said anything. There was no need to. They moved in the same instant, and pulled each other into a tight hug.

After a few moments, they slowly parted, and looked over the peaceful city beneath them. Aang could feel Katara's smile without even looking, indicating that she was reminiscing just as he was.

Time seemed to slow down for a moment. Aang heard his friends laugh about some joke that Iroh had told. He saw the sun slowly setting over the peaceful city. He felt Katara's hand, still intertwined with his. He couldn't stop smiling. _It doesn't get better than this..._

Aang turned his head back at his friend, and he saw that Katara had done the same, their faces only inches apart.

Katara looked into those stormy grey eyes, and her heart fluttered when she saw the absolute happiness that shone from them. Then his eyes fell shut, and for once, her mind had no objections left to give. She pulled him in and kissed him, her eyes closing as well.

Only weeks ago, Aang would have jumped with joy, and a part of him still did. But the rest of him just hugged Katara tighter and kissed her back; not because he desperately wanted to, but because it was just… _right_. He involuntarily grinned against her lips. _Yeah, try_ that _explanation on Sokka, why don't you?_ Somehow, he didn't think his friend would get it the same way he did.

It had all come very suddenly, but Katara didn't care; because for the first time, it didn't feel forced, it was just… _natural_. Aang was happy and she liked him and he liked her. When she felt his lips part in a smile, she returned it without thinking. She wondered how long it was possibly to keep kissing before they would have to breathe…

"Airbender, remember?" Aang whispered, reading her thoughts. Katara grimaced and hit his forehead playfully, scolding. But she had no objections, and he obviously didn't either. And that filled her with such a giddy happiness that she wanted to jump up and down and shout it across the rooftops. Or keep kissing Aang, alternatively. Yes, that was definitely the preferred option, she decided.

By the time darkness settled over the balcony, they were still in each other's arms, just breathing and enjoying the silence of a peaceful city going to sleep.

* * *

"Hey, where are Aang and Katara?" Sokka said at some point, glancing up from his 'work of art', as he insisted on calling it.

That sprouted a variety of reactions from the others: Iroh smiled knowingly; Zuko looked around for the air- and water bender respectively, likewise not having noticed their absence; Mai huffed disinterestedly and kept playing with her knife; Toph smirked and picked some more dirt from her toes; and Suki quickly stepped next to her boyfriend and tried to draw his attention back to the painting: "Wow, you got Appa really well!" she complimented on the only part of it that she could identify with some certainty.

Sokka looked at her, confused, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's going on?" he asked into the room. "Am I missing something?"

"Nah, nothing important." Toph answered from her table spot. Then she smirked: "Just the fact that Twinkles and Sugar Queen are busy making out outside, no big deal".

Zuko promptly spit out his drink, Iroh's Jasmine tea spilling across the table, and Iroh himself had to pat him on the back to get him to breathe again. Sokka took a while longer until he had made sense of her statement. When he finally did, his eyes flew open and he sprung from his chair, knocking over the table. "They WHAT?!" he yelled.

Suki sighed. This was exactly the reaction she had tried to prevent from happening, and why she wisely had not informed him when she saw Katara following after Aang. So much for calmly and gently easing him into it. She shot Toph an annoyed look, before belatedly realizing that was a wasted effort. The earth bender just smirked in satisfaction. May wasn't much better, still displaying no interest in the goings on whatsoever. Suki frowned. Was she seriously the only person with any tact in the room?

Well, there was Iroh, but he was still busy saving his nephew from his own tea, so.

Sokka looked around the group. "Please tell me she is joking?" he asked, seeking for confirmation in their faces. He didn't get any: Iroh just gave him that fatherly smile and shrugged. Zuko was still fighting his coughing fit and staring at Toph accusingly. Mai didn't even look at him. "Your painting fell down." she commented indifferently, throwing and catching her knife.

Suki grasped her boyfriend's arm, trying to calm him down: "Come on, you must have noticed that they like each other." she insisted. "Everybody could see that!"

Zuko raised a hand in protest.

Thankfully, at least Toph agreed with her: "Seriously, even _I_ saw that. And I can't even see!"

Sokka shook his head to get rid of all the disgusting images that were undoubtedly popping into his head. He expressed the only thought he could put into words: "But she's my SISTER!"

Toph raised her eyebrows in his general direction: "Yeah, thanks for the info, Snoozles; never would have guessed it."

The next shaky cry: "But it's AANG!"

This time, the blind earth bender just rolled her eyes: "And your point is...?"

Sokka shook his head violently. "They can't be – _together_ together."

Toph's smirk grew wider. "From what my feet are picking up from their direction, they would beg to differ, Snoozles."

"No details, for spirit's sake!" Sokka incredulously stared at each of them in turn. "Is seriously nobody bothered by this?!"

Zuko shrugged his shoulders, apparently finally having gotten over his initial shock. "It's not like it's the end of the world, is it? I mean, you and Suki are together…"

"Yeah. But Katara's my little sister, and Aang is, like, ten. They can't have thought this through properly."

That provoked an amused snort from the Fire Lord. "We just ended a hundred year war; I think they will be able to handle a relationship, Sokka."

"Yeah." Suki added, thankful for the support. "Everything is finally alright, we have earned some downtime."

Sokka turned to her, crossing his arms indignantly. "First of all; that airhead hasn't 'earned' my sister. Nope, not at all. Second; don't you know that saying 'Everything is alright', is just asking for trouble?!" His eyes shifted in paranoia. "You are lucky that no comet hit you after you said that, or that Zuko didn't announce his plans to conquer the world!"

"Hey!" Zuko protested from his window seat.

Sokka raised his hands apollogetically. "I'm just saying, whenever things go right for us, something weird or catastrophic happens! That's just a fact!"

"Isn't Aang and Katara being together weird enough for you?" Toph put in.

Suki had to fight the urge to strangle her, as Sokka nodded vigorously: "Yes! Weird is the word. Thank you Toph!"

The blind bender smiled encouragingly: "Then we should be thankful it's just that and not something worse, shouldn't we?"

"What? I mean… Hmm. When you put it like that…"

Suddenly, Sokka looked oddly placated. His brow creased and Suki could practically hear his brain whirring in there, probably contemplating a string of other catastrophes that could be much worse than his sister kissing his best friend. She gave Toph an impressed look, and either the blind bender had a way of picking up on that or they were just thinking the same thing; because she grinned right back.

"Hmph." Sokka concluded after a while. He didn't look pleased, exactly, but at least he also didn't look like he was about to storm out and murder Aang on the spot anymore. Given a little time, he might even warm to the idea. And with a little (a lot) more time, perhaps he would even be able to witness a couple kissing without having an allergic coughing fit, Suki hoped. Who knew.

 _Small steps_ , she thought as her boyfriend plopped back down next to her, and gave him a fond smile. _Small steps_.


End file.
